*swōtinassī

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *swōtinassī "sweetness".^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Proto-West Germanic *swōtī (“sweet”) + *-nassī (“-ness”).^[1] Köbler derives the Old English noun from the adjective swœ̄te and the suffix,^[2] and the Old High German one from swuozi.^[3]

Morphology

A noun, a feminine jō-stem in Old English and a neuter ja-stem in Old High German.^[2][3]

Evidence

Old English has swētnes, also spelled swœ̄tnes and swōtnes, glossing Latin dulcēdō and suāvitās.^[2] Old High German has swuoznissi in a text of 863–871,^[3] and swuoznassi "sweet food" in a gloss of the third quarter of the 9th century.^[4] Wiktionary gives the Old Frisian, Old Saxon and Old Dutch forms only as reconstructions.^[1] Ringe and Taylor warn that the suffix *-nassī was so productive in all the West Germanic languages that most nouns made with it may have been formed separately in each.^[5]

Meanings

1. sweetness^[1]

Old English also used the noun for "pleasantness", "fragrance" and "kindness",^[2] and Old High German for "loveliness", "mildness" and "love".^[3]

Reflexes

• Old English: swētnes (“sweetness, pleasantness, fragrance”)^[2]
• Old High German: swuoznissi (“sweetness, loveliness, mildness”)^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *swōtinassī
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. swœ̄tnėss
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. swuoznissi
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. swuoznassi
5. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 132